in all probability much lower in height than it was originally; at the foot of which in the next field is a spring of excellent water. A few years ago some labourers were employed to open a marle pit close upon the spring, and when they had cleared away a foot or more of surface soil, came upon an ancient narrow causeway running in the direction of the place where the altar was found, it was roughly paved with large stones supported by, and flanked at the sides, by oak piles, very black and much decayed, but of which sufficient remained to shew that they had been large and substantial. It was about four feet broad, and was only paved for a few feet. No pottery or other remains have been found in the neighbourhood. It is more than probable that here has been placed an advanced post in connection with some important station in the neighbourhood. The spot itself is sufficiently elevated to afford an extensive view, giving just grounds for supposing that this hillock, whether artificial or not, might have performed the office of a speculatory mound over the surrounding flat and low country; there are, however, no remains of castramentation, but these may in the lapse of time have perished. This relic of Roman times was given to me by the Revd. William Lund, of Dunnington, and is now in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.

XXIX. British Remains on Baildon Common, Yorkshire.
By JAMES WARDELL, Leeds.

"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people."-Numbers, c. XXII. v. 41.

THE Township of Baildon, whose name signifies literally, the hill of Baal, is situate in the Parish of Otley, in the West-Riding of the County of York; the moor, or common, consists of a tract of land of considerable extent, one portion of which, rising in three successive ledges, or terraces, of considerable breadth, from the northern side of Airedale, has been denominated "a

mountain in miniature," by the author of a very valuable letter on this subject, in the Archæologia, Vol. xxxi. The summit of this hill, (the altitude of which, according to the Ordnance survey, is 925 feet above the level of the sea,) expands considerably, and is called the "High Plain," from which a most extensive view of the surrounding country can be obtained. Such a site was not likely to be overlooked by those tribes who roamed over the wild district in which it was situate, and accordingly it was here that the sacred fire was kindled in honour of Baal, whose "high places" are so frequently mentioned in the holy scriptures, and whose worship, of which human sacrifices formed a part, was so repeatedly prohibited to the Israelites, under the most severe penalties. It is not, however, my intention, to enter into the origin and history of this idolatry, it is sufficient to state that it was introduced to this country by the Phoenicians, and that under several designations, the principal being that of Bel, or Baal, signifying Lord, and Bealta, Lady, the sun and moon, with all the host of Heaven, had religious adoration paid them.

This lofty and conspicuous hill would, therefore, be accounted a most sacred place, and as might be expected, there occur the traces of extensive earthworks, apparently so formed as to defend its approaches, but now too much defaced to be properly defined or understood. They however, shew such a careful and laborious system of defence, as I rarely remember to have seen in any other works of this description, and can be remembered to have been from four to five feet in height, and about eight feet in diameter at the base; they have with the other ancient remains on this common, been most correctly delineated on the Ordnance Maps, and on those accompanying the letter in the Archæologia.

The places of worship of the Britons were constructed of large blocks of unhewn stone, arranged in the form of a circle. I have carefully searched the summit of this "high place" of Baal, for any remains of this kind, but without success, and am therefore led to conclude that, owing to the circumstance of the stones which composed the circle, being found by the inhabitants of the township ready for use, they have been years ago broken up, and carried away, either for building purposes or the repairs of roads. The adjacent district resembles that surrounding the far-famed and extensive pagan temple on the plains of Salisbury, in abounding with the remains of

numerous Cairns and Barrows, where, in all probability repose the ashes of the priests connected with the place, and of those chiefs, or heads of tribes, who would naturally desire, and had power to obtain, interment near to its venerated site. Some of the sites of those ruined places of sepulture may yet be distinguished by their modern names of Howden- Wood, Acre-Howe, and Rerehow-Cross, the latter of which, appears from its designation to have borne either a memorial stone of this period, or a cross in mediæval times. Pennythorne-Hill, on the crest of which is an almost defaced circular earthwork, fifty feet in diameter, retains in some degree, its British name.

Under the direction of Edward Hailstone, Esq., F.S.A., of Bradford, two of those almost obliterated grave mounds have undergone a careful examination, the results of which are contained in the letter before referred to, and from which the following account is taken.

3.

The first excavation was made near to the centre of a circle composed of earth and stones, measuring fifty feet in diameter, and one hundred and fifty feet in circumference; after removing successive layers of peat earth and calliard boulders, at a depth of two feet from the surface of the ground, there was found, in connexion with the remains of a fire, a rude Urn of circular, or bowl shape, twelve inches in diameter, and about nine or ten inches in depth, ornamented on the upper part by incised lines, crossing each other at right angles, (Fig. 1.) It was in an upright position, and filled with calcined bones, ashes, and charcoal. The bones, some of which were tolerably perfect, were submitted to medical inspection, and pronounced to be those of a young subject, from nine to thirteen years of age.

The next examination was made in an earthwork of very peculiar character, situate on the north side of the road which crosses the common, being the remains of a circle, composed of the same materials, and being of the same dimensions as the last, but bounded on the south and east sides thereof by a well defined entrenchment, the form of which will be better understood by a reference

to the accompanying wood cut, which exhibits a perspective view of it. It is in

the form of

an angle, or the corner of a paralellogram, and measures in length about eighty feet on the west side, and thirty-six feet on the south side; it consists of a fosse, with an agger on each side, the breadth of the fosse from the top of the inner agger, to that of the outer one, is about twenty-seven feet; the depth of the fosse, from the top of the agger is three feet four inches; the height of the inner and outer aggers is two feet four inches each; and the entire breadth, from the interior edge of the inner agger, to the exterior edge of the outer agger, is forty-five feet. Within the circle, the centre of which however had been previously disturbed, were found ashes, burnt bones, and charcoal, together with a broken Urn; (Fig. 2.) At a short distance from these remains, and at a depth of two feet from the surface, was found another broken Urn, which, when entire, had been about seven inches in diameter, and about nine or ten inches in depth, (Fig. 3); it was in an inverted position, ornamented with zig-zag lines, and contained similar remains to the last, amongst

which was a flint arrow-head, represented by the annexed woodcut, of the same size as the original. I do not recollect ever seeing an earthwork of so singular a character as this; it was doubtless the place of sepulture of some family of consequence in their day and generation, perhaps of the High-Priest of the district, and that it had been origi

nally intended to carry the fosse, with its accompanying aggers, round the entire circle, so as effectually to defend it from intrusion, or desecration.

Mr. Hailstone does not appear to have made any further examinations, but one casually made, by two visitors to the common, in a cairn almost reduced to the level of the surrounding ground, came to my knowledge. After removing the stones for about a foot in depth, there was found a small quantity of ashes, charcoal, and calcined bones, apparently those of a young female, amongst which lay the remains of a red earthenware Urn, which, judging from the fragments, had, when entire, been about four inches in diameter at the top; about six or eight inches in depth, and of the form represented by the annexed woodcut. These time-worn fragments subsequently came into my possession, and several of them which had formed the rim were ornamented on the outside after the manner of the period. This Urn, together with those found by Mr. Hailstone, had most likely been broken by the

labourers when removing the stones which composed the cairns, for the purpose of repairing the roads, as has been the case with all the other remains of antiquity on the moor.

This latter examination was attended by a circumstance not soon to be forgotten by the persons engaged therein; they had almost reached the place where the broken Urn and bones were deposited, when at once, such a fearful storm of thunder, lightning, and rain came on, that they were not only considerably alarmed, but were actually driven from the common, to seek shelter in the village. This incident will remind the reader of the well known, yet awful instance of this description attendant upon the opening of a British Barrow, by Sir R. C. Hoare, Bart.; the Revd. W. L. Bowles and others; which occasioned the composing, by the latter gentleman, of that most beautiful and highly-descriptive poem, the "Plaint of the Mighty Dead of Old. Numerous instances of this kind are to be found in the records of Barrow digging, some of which are curious, as tending to shew the feelings of veneration with which those primitive sepulchres are regarded by the country people. At the opening of a British Tumulus in Berkshire, by Messrs. Henry and Charles Long, the work was impeded by a violent thun

*Hoare's Ancient Wiltshire. Vol. I. p. 239.